Scandalous Heroes Box Set (70 page)

She looked at him from over her shoulder as his hand went around her waist and she continued the song. He dipped his head and trailed kisses along her neck. Her voice grew husky and her eyes fluttered close. Slowly she began to move sensually, rubbing her body against his. His hands were suddenly on her circling hips, preventing her teasing body from becoming a full-on assault.

He dragged himself back but Vanessa gripped his head, her fingers twined in his hair and she pulled his head back down to hers where her lips sought his in a frantic, desperate kiss.

Scotty’s moan caught in his throat when Vanessa’s perfect ass began to grind against his pelvis again, causing him to rapidly harden.

“Vanessa, baby,” he moaned against her lips. “Stop baby…”

But Vanessa was consumed with need for her man. Stopping was not an option, not when her desire felt like it was burning a hole through her core! She turned bodily and molded herself against his tall hard frame. Scotty held her to him, unable to do anything different. Vanessa slipped her tongue between his lips and then ran her hands down the front of his jeans, stroking him through the dense material.

She had never dared to touch him in that way before. She knew that it would mark the end of his control and an end to his romantic plans for her birthday. But right now she didn’t care about those plans. She was a woman with her own needs and she intended to let him know that she wanted him, not in two months, but now!

Scotty blinked rapidly. Vanessa was a squirming serpent in his arms, kissing and sucking his lips, stroking him, gyrating against him, her moans of need raw and primal.

And then he pictured the mountain cabin with its fireplace in the bedroom, a bottle of champagne by the bed. He remembered the diamond ring that was tucked securely in one of his drawers. But mainly he remembered that once he buried himself into her he would never have to see her say goodbye and go to another home again.

He pulled his head back and gripped her wrists firmly, holding them at bay. “Wait honey, wait-“

It was like he had thrown cold water in the face. Her swollen lips were parted as she stared at him in dazed surprise. She quickly looked away and pulled her wrists from his grasp, her head nodding in embarrassed agreement that it was time to stop.

The air deflated from Scotty’s body at the look of disappointment on her face. If she only knew the dreams that he had for them—that it wouldn’t be much longer and then it would be so much more beautiful…

“Baby,” he touched her cheek but she pulled back, although she did look at him this time. But that was worse because now he could clearly see the hurt in her eyes. Did she really think that he didn’t want her? Didn’t she know that she was all that he wanted in this entire stinking world? “Listen honey, I do want you. But-“

“You want to wait until my birthday,” she said, her voice deep with emotion. “You want to make my birthday special. You want it to mark the day that I am truly a woman.” Scotty nodded slowly, not completely surprised that she had figured that much out. “But Scotty, I
am
a woman!”

He tried to touch her but she jerked away and he blinked in surprise. “Vanessa…I know that-“

“I think about you constantly, Scotty! I fantasize about us together every single night and I’ve fantasized about us since I lived in Winton Terrace! I am far from a child!”

“Vanessa!” He gripped her roughly, hushing her rant. “I know that you are every bit a woman. When we make love then you are mine forever! I’m never letting you go, do you understand?! I’m giving you a ring to make sure you understand that! Do you think your grandmother, that you’ve never even introduced me to, will sign off for you to get married? And what about when you visit her each Sunday? Don’t you think she will notice the ring that will be on your finger, the one that you are never removing?! I just want to do something right for once in my freaking life!”

Vanessa swallowed, seeing him filled with more emotion than she had ever seen before. She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him until the tension left his body.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he finally said as he held her in his arms.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” She whispered.

He stood there for a while just holding her. “I love you so much. I’ve held it back for so long that I…” He couldn’t continue. When he let go of the reigns for his love for her then he didn’t know what to expect. He’d never felt this deeply for anyone and that included the siblings that he had sacrificed so much of himself for. As much as he loved them, they were still his burden.

But it wasn’t like that with Vanessa. She was his salvation.

Chapter 24

The ride back to Winton Terrace was uncharacteristically quiet though not uncomfortable. For Vanessa she was busy making a serious realization about herself. She really had no idea what it was to be an adult, only an indulgent kid that had always gotten what she wanted. She couldn’t just bypass the difficult things in life just so that she could get to the fun. She had to start making smart decisions and Scotty would probably not like them very much. But he had conditions that he had laid out, and now she was about to lay out hers.

When he pulled up to the curb to let her out, he placed the car in park and turned to her.

“I’m sorry about tonight-“

She shook her head. “I’m sorry that I ruined your surprise.”

He placed his fingers on her chin. “Don’t be. It will still be perfect.”

She covered his hand with hers and kissed his finger. “Not necessarily…”

He gave her a confused look.

She released his hand. “You made it clear that you won’t make love with me until you know that you can be married to me, and I get that and I even respect it. But before I will say yes to your proposal there’s something you have to take care of.”

Scotty opened and closed his mouth. “Vanessa, I thought you understood that I have commitments that-“

“I will help you.” She interrupted.

His expression chilled. “There’s no way that I’ll ever let you deal in dope-“

“No! Not that way.”

He frowned in confusion. “Then what-?”

“My mama left me some money-”

Scotty’s expression chilled again. “No.”

“But-“

“If your mother left you some money then you’re not using it for this.”

“If you’re my husband-“

“What do you think your mother would say if she knew you were planning to give your money to some drug dealing criminal?!”

Vanessa looked at him in shock. “But that’s not who you are-“

He looked out his window. “This is why I love you. But it’s also why you need to be protected.” He met her eyes. “Never offer money to a criminal, and that includes me.” His expression softened when she looked at him, hurt. “Baby, if I accepted your money, then I would be nothing more than another loser that uses women for his own good.”

She shook her head in denial. “But, you have no idea how much money’s involved. There’s enough-“

He slammed a fist down on the steering wheel causing her to jump. He then stared out the window so that he wouldn’t have to see the look in her eyes. “If I can’t take care of you the right way then I don’t deserve you!” He looked at her trying to make her understand. “Vanessa I’m going to drive to a job everyday and bring home a check that will pay down our mortgage. And it’s all going to be legal. But it won’t happen in two months. Ending this will happen, I promise you that, but not that quickly.”

“When then?”

“I don’t know the answer to that—maybe a year…”

Vanessa sank back into her seat in disappointment. That was not an answer. And there would be no answer because there would always be a reason not to stop. “Okay,” she said finally. “Okay.” She stroked his goatee and then leaned forward and captured his lips with hers. He sighed in relief and held her while they sensually kissed.

“I better go in now, baby.” She opened the door and looked over her shoulder. “Pick me up tomorrow?”

“You got it beautiful.”

“Can you pick up some condoms?”

“Huh?” He frowned.

She looked at him in feigned confusion. “Well there’s no need for us to wait for my birthday to do it, not anymore since I’m not going to promise to marry you.”

The air froze in Scotty’s lungs.

Vanessa got out of the car. “One of us is going to have to back down and it won’t be me.” She closed the door and walked away.

“Vanessa!” She continued walking for the apartment, stopping only when she heard Scotty’s car door opening and then slamming as he hurried towards her. She turned in time to see him stop short of grabbing her.

“You gave me your conditions,” she said as if she had never stopped talking. “You don’t want to have sex until I’m promised to you and living with you. And I won’t promise myself to you until you are finished with dealing.”

“I understand,” he said while lightly clasping her arms. “We can hold off on a wedding-”

“And we can be in each other’s arms loving each other, every night…and afterwards I’ll get up and go back to my own home. But we definitely won’t be planning a wedding.” Scotty’s nostrils flared ever so slightly. “And depending on how long I care to wait, my home might be here in Cincinnati…or it might end up being in New York City.”

She saw the muscles in his jaws flinch. “Vanessa…threats like that just might backfire.”

“You’re the one that has to live by your conditions. Not me.” She said with an angry glint in her own eyes. When he didn’t say anything else she turned and disappeared into the run down apartment building.

Scotty walked back to his car, his head in turmoil. In a strange and twisted way, dealing drugs was Scotty’s safeguard. He knew how to sell drugs and as long as he had command of that illegal talent then money was always at hands reach. Once he gave that up, his failure would not only affect himself, but his family and now even Vanessa. The pressure to take care of everyone was causing him to think like an idiot.

A smart man knows when to stop.

Yeah, Vanessa was right. By her birthday he would be done with it.

Scotty drove until he reached G’s place. His friend lived in a rented house with his girlfriend, two pit bulls and his baby son.

G’s woman greeted Scotty enthusiastically when he rang the door and then invited him into the pretty house. He always felt the warmth of his friend’s home, with its designer furniture and expensive decorations. By comparison, Scotty’s home was simple and intentionally sparse. The BMW was a lease and the apartment was just a month-by-month rental. In case he was ever forced to give it up then he wouldn’t miss it. That was something he had learned the hard way. Scotty did not enjoy the fruits of his labor—and as a result he had a hefty stash of cash. The question was if it was enough to take care of them all—the answer was not quite…

G walked into the living room holding his son propped up on his shoulder.  Whenever Scotty looked at L’il G, it made him think sad thoughts about how easy it was to create a baby and how hard it was to raise one.

“What’s up man?” G said and then gently hefted the squirming little bundle in his arms, offering him to Scotty to hold. “You want to say hi to your godson?”

Scotty took a quick step back as if G was going to toss him a grenade.

“Uh…no. I’m good.”

G chuckled, completely aware of Scotty’s aversion to little human beings. Having grown up in a household swarming with them, he supposed that he couldn’t blame him one bit.  His woman slipped the sleeping infant from his arms and went upstairs to allow them to talk business.

“How quickly can we start selling crack?” Scotty asked.

G’s eyes widened in surprise. “Dude, weren’t you just talking about getting out of the business?”

His friend nodded. “And I still am. But I need to make some fast cash and Dawson seems to think this stuff will sale like candy.”

G grinned. “Cool. I’m all for making fast cash, but this shit Dawson’s talking about sounds like freebasing.” The young men both knew the dangers of freebasing, which had caused burn injuries to many of their customers. Neither man was interested in burning up while cooking crack. It was decided that they would contact Dawson for the coke and hopefully a lesson on how to cook it. The two friends slapped hands.

Scotty nodded. “Let’s do it.”

~***~

The next morning Vanessa’s eyes were red and swollen from crying for most of the night. She knew that the things she had said to Scotty were all truth, but it still hurt. Jalissa had stroked her hair until both girls fell into an exhausted sleep.  As Vanessa got ready for the day, she wasn’t sure if Scotty was planning to coming to pick her up--or if she would never see him again.

But then the phone rang and he was on the line saying good morning beautiful. Relief washed over her that they were not only talking, but he seemed to be in a good mood.

“Look, baby, I can’t come to get you today. I’m sorry but I need to leave town for a few days.”

She swallowed past the lump in her throat, deciding that she was being dumped after all. Her voice became cool and emotionless. “It’s cool. I guess I’ll see you when I see you-”

He chuckled. “Don’t sound like that. I’m just busy planning the best damn birthday celebration for my future wife, that’s all.”

The smile that lit up her face was very revealing to Callista and Jalissa, who were pretending not to listen, but had surmised that Vanessa’s marriage plans were back on.

“Oh I love you, Scotty! When will you be back?”

“I love you too. Very much.” He sighed. “I don’t know yet. I’m going to be out of town for a few days, maybe a week.” Dawson had offered to show them how to cook up the drug and the best way to cut and distribute it. But this required them to drive to New York where he evidently stayed.

“Vanessa, I’m leaving the Beamer, so if you want to use it you can.”

Her mouth dropped in surprise. He had allowed her to drive it, but only when he was in it with her, and only for a short while. Not that she would have ever asked to borrow his vehicle, but the offer showed that he trusted her.